1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a magnetic tape recording apparatus and, in particular, to an apparatus for extracting an end of a magnetic tape and for engaging the tape end in a take-up reel of a tape drive.
2. Description of the Related Art
Magnetic recording using tapes stored in cartridges or cassettes is well known and a variety of cartridges and cassettes have been provided. In many tape cartridges, the magnetic tape on which data or other information is magnetically stored and retrieved is wound from a first spool to a second spool inside the cartridge. Single reel tape cartridges are also known in which the cartridge contains only a single spool or reel and the magnetic recording tape is wound onto this single reel or spool for storage. When a single reel cartridge is inserted into a tape drive, a free end of the magnetic tape is engaged by the tape drive and carried to a take-up reel or spool in the tape drive. The take-up reel or spool in the tape drive draws the magnetic recording tape out of the cartridge and onto the take-up reel as the magnetic tape is unwound from the single reel in the cartridge. The magnetic recording tape is wound and unwound between the two spools or reels, the reel in the cartridge and the take-up reel in the drive.
In order to permit the tape drive to engage the free end of the magnetic recording tape in a single reel cartridge, the free end of the tape is provided with a leader pin. The leader pin is connected in a suitable manner to the recording tape so that the longitudinal axis of the leader pin is parallel to the transverse direction of the magnetic recording tape and perpendicular to the direction along which the tape will transfer between the cartridge reel and the take-up reel in the drive. The leader pin has opposite ends which project beyond the width of the recording tape, these ends being received in respective recesses in the cartridge at a tape access opening so that the leader pin may be engaged by a gripping mechanism in the tape drive.
The leader pin gripping and extracting mechanisms are provided in a variety of configurations for engaging the free end of the recording tape and pulling the leader pin and recording tape connected thereto into the drive for engagement with the take-up reel. One such engagement mechanism is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,055 B2. As noted in this patent, the reliability of the extraction system to accurately thread the tape onto the take-up reel for winding and unwinding between the two reels is critical to the operation of the tape drive since the magnetically recorded tracks on the tape are parallel to one another and are closely packed with one another. In the above-noted U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,055 B2 is shown a reel 3 driven by a motor and gear system, the reel 3 having a lever arm 5 with a pin 34 that engages a gripper assembly 21 to move the gripper assembly into engagement with the leader pin of the tape and draw the gripper assembly along a tape guide for engagement in a take-up reel.
In a take-up reel of a single reel cartridge tape drive, irregularities in the tape contact surface of the take-up reel hub create unwanted tape speed variations and lateral tape movement. Slots in the hub of the take-up reel reduce the stiffness of the take-up reel so that tension forces as a result of the tape tension on the take-up reel result in deflection of the hub which in turn results in deformation of the hub flanges. The deformation of the hub flanges can cause an increase in the run-out angle of the hub flanges and thus an undesirable lateral movement of the magnetic recording tape. If the deformation of the hub flanges results in contact between the edge of the magnetic recording tape and the hub flange, an undesirable lateral movement of the tape results.